Resources

These are the professionals, services, and products that I engage as I work on my books.

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Please note while some of these are affiliate links, all links represent a genuine heartfelt endorsement.

Ideas

Your ideas are inside of you. Sometimes you need some prompting to get them out, though. This idea of a Grecian Muse makes it sounds like an artist needs a push. Okay fine, we need a push, but we don’t need someone else whispering in our ear. Ideas are everywhere! Get out of the house. Go for a walk. Sit in a coffee shop and pick some random conversation’s tiniest point and blow the drama inflatable raft up to make it a life or death situation. Go to a museum. Visit a historical graveyard and pick a name off a headstone. Ask yourself ridiculous “what if” questions. Or use this online title generator to come up with a random string of words that inspire you.

Developmental Editing / Coaching

Writing

Hybrid Author Podcast
I just so happen to co-host the Hybrid Author Podcast (est. Nov 1, 2017) with my good friend, Brian Williamson. Each week we chat about writing, publishing, and marketing for traditionally published, self-published, and hybrid authors.

Scrivener
I have used Scrivener for my writing since the first time I tried to move a scene around in a long Word document.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
The New Year’s Resolution of writing, in an awesome community event that makes the act seem just a little less isolated.

Layout

Vellum for eBook and print (with upgrade) layout. Mac only, but many folks set up a Mac emulator to run this off their PCs.

Draft2Digital has a variety of services for layout and production which are free to use even if you don’t choose to use their distribution services (though there are arguments to be made for using them).

Full Service

Publishing

IngramSpark – For directly producing your print book for the non-Amazon global distribution.

Bowker – For sourcing your own ISBNs. Their other services are wildly overpriced, but it may be worth signing up for their offer emails for the occasional ISBN specials.

Draft2Digital – Formatting and distribution for your digital and print book formats. Also recently partnered with Findaway Voices to circumvent the ACX/Audible process.

Marketing

I build this list of marketing tools as I implement them and can be sure I’m not spreading snake oil.

Mailer Lite – All accounts get access to their full feature list. You only pay based on your subscriber numbers. (Use this link to sign up and get $20 credit)

Book Funnel – For sending out eBooks to your readers. They handle getting them the right format, and they handle support requests! They have recently added services to support book giveaways and direct sales of digital books from your website.

Twitter – Don’t pay for Twitter ads, which have one of the lowest ROIs of online marketing. But do be a normal (considerate) human who tweets about life and the things you’re passionate about (only the things you’d tell your mom about, though, maybe).

Facebook – Facebook Pages are an unfortunate necessity. Almost no one will see what you post, but you do want to have a presence and you must have a business page to run Facebook ads. Consider also starting a Facebook Group, at least for your super fans. Group posts do show up more often, organically. At least until FB changes things again.

YouTube – Figure out what kind of video content you can provide and make regular updates.

Instagram – Photos of your daily life, your books when they arrive, your fans when you meet them out in the wild, and book announcements when your titles are released.

The thing about Social Media is that it can be a time sink. Don’t spend all day ‘developing’ your social media brand instead of writing your next book. Just be human, not a used car salesman.

IFTTT – I use their social media recipes to automate posting updates to my social media profiles so I don’t have to remember to go back after a scheduled post has published.

Litsy iOSAndroid (user RJTheodore) – Honestly not sure if this platform will last, due to their content restrictions, but it seems like a good place to have a presence (and to reserve your pen name as soon as possible).

Presence

Website Hosting with A2 – I recently switched when my old host was bought out and stripped down. A2 has very responsive support and all the features I need, plus discount codes to save on your first year, and they’ll migrate your site over from any compatible server.

WordPress – I recommend hosting your WP blog on your own domain (don’t pay WordPress.com to redirect for you, their prices are too high for what should be free), but it’s perhaps the easiest platform to learn and handles a lot of customization without ever having to touch the template code.

Doctor’s Best Chelated Magnesium Glycinate – the most efficient source of Mg, which helps balance your neurological and muscular as well as emotional well-being. Magnesium, Sodium, and Potassium are essential electrolytes, but Mg is the only one I supplement in addition to the real food sources. Doctor’s Best is one of my favorite brands, though Now would also be good.